Coaxial splitters were implemented by cable companies as a means of providing analog cable signals to multiple television units within a home. However, due to imperfections in a cable plant or intermediate network elements, analog signals can “reflect” from one coaxial path back onto an adjacent path causing “Ghost TV images.” Because of the ghost image problem, splitter designs have evolved to incorporate a high signal isolation between their output ports to suppress the signal reflections (and ghost images).
The evolution of Internet Protocol (IP) networking technologies today makes it possible to deliver video (as well as voice and data) over these new networks, leveraging also the ability to map packet-based data onto a variety of Ethernet over Coax (EOC) network technologies (e.g., Home PhoneLine Network Assn., or HPNA; Multimedia over Coax Assn., or MoCA, or other similar competing solutions that permit the use of existing coax to deliver IP-network data throughout the home without rewiring). Unfortunately, use of the traditional Cable-TV splitter devices as part of EOC networks can severely impair achievable data rates between devices attached to the output ports because of the high design isolation of the legacy home network design that utilizes high isolation splitters.